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Bonny, bony Bonaventure
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 06:44PM 
Threshold. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010Thanks to Stephanie Lincecum at Southern Graves, I now know there is a word for those inordinately fond of cemeteries.
Taphophile: One who enjoys wandering amongst the tombs.
Like Stephanie and many others, I am a taphophile.
It's not weird! Really! I am normal.
My girls explore Bonaventure. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
(Even if Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers is my current bedside table reading.)
(Great read. Fascinating and funny.)
The truncated column symbolized a life cut short. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The thing about cemeteries is the stillness. You step onto that ground and the world with all its confusion falls away. Immediately your mind clears.
Brooding angels abound. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
It's as though there's a thick angel-feather barrier around a cemetery; the pulsing clamor of life may be only a few feet away but somehow the sound is muted.
Watchcare. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
As raucous as things may get out on the street, the din rarely pierces the calm of a cemetery.
Resting place of Mrs. Carrie Dixon. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
There, the worst has already happened -- and for many, it was the best because upon death they gained heaven -- and what remains is peace.
The Morgan angel. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Preternatural peace.
And quiet. So quiet!
So many tiny graves. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
I'm all about that.
Even I -- a confirmed yammerer -- do not yammer in a cemetery.
The Remshart plot: graves like cradles. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
For nearly a decade we have lived less than a three-hour drive from Savannah, Georgia -- one of the most beautiful cities in America -- and until last Saturday I had been there only once.
Serene views and comforting nature. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
That once was in April, 2009, and on that day when I reached the gates of Bonaventure Cemetery, they were closed.
Last Saturday TG, I, Audrey, and Erica went to Savannah specifically to wander the lanes of Bonaventure.
A grave as small and innocent as its occupant. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
It was a treat.
If you have to decompose, take my word for it: This is the place.
Overwrought. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Although my companions weren't necessarily fellow taphophiles, they are good sports. TG's a sweetheart ... his tacit mantra where I am concerned is "Whatever makes you happy, baby, tickles me plumb to death."
Like a doorway to another world. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The girls knew they'd get fed lunch on Savannah's bustling riverfront at the conclusion of tomb-meandering, so they made the best of it and, I think, ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
TG chills at the Mercer family plot. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
We all like history and Bonaventure is history on hallucinogens. Almost at once you get high on it. Fantastic feeling; a little spooky and a lot heavy.
It's the afterlife on performance-enhancing substances.
The faith of a child. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Like many people, I have read John Berendt's bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, about Savannah antiques dealer Jim Williams, who murdered his boy-toy assistant, Danny Hansford, in the library of the Mercer House in Monterey Square on May 2, 1981.
The grave of Johnny Mercer. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Jim Williams was acquitted of the crime -- after no fewer than four trials -- but died shortly afterwards, of pneumonia and heart failure, at the age of 59.
The Mercer House in Monterey Square. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
An evocative photo of the Bird Girl monument -- which stood for half a century in Bonaventure Cemetery less than five miles from the Mercer House -- adorned the book's cover.
So do I. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The book and the statue gave Savannah -- and, as an unexpected corollary, Bonaventure Cemetery -- a life beyond its charming centuries-old southern somnolence.
It tolls for thee. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The Bird Girl eventually was removed from Bonaventure and placed in Savannah's Telfair Museum of Art, to protect her from damage done by touchy-feely tourists.
Pedimented like there's no tomorrow. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
So we didn't get to see her. Telfair Museum will be our destination on another visit to Savannah ... and the sooner the better.
Allured to brighter worlds and led the way. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The Mercer House was the ancestral home of American songwriter Johnny Mercer, who was laid to rest at Bonaventure in 1976.
The roads seem to go on forever. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
(Mr. Mercer wrote hundreds of songs, including Moon River. The song was inspired by the Wilmington River, which runs alongside Bonaventure's 160 acres. Johnny Mercer and several family members are interred within sight of the river.)
Angelic vigil at Mercer family graves. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
I had done a fair amount of research on Bonaventure Cemetery -- described by Oscar Wilde as "incomparable" -- but I found it somewhat different than I had expected.
Sentinel of the shadows. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
A bit less lush as to landscaping and caretaking in certain sections.
A bit sadder overall, with too much an air of the forgotten.
A great deal more breathtaking in its mystique-shrouded ambience.
An impressive temple vault. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Stephanie Lincecum wrote to me that there are "no words to describe it" ... and she is right.
But I'll keep trying.
Eerie detail of Mrs. Lawton's spectacular marker. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Superfluous to mention the Spanish moss, but to be sure, that lacy veil dripping and drooping from hundreds of live oaks is the thing that makes Bonaventure otherworldly. It is what makes it unique.
Contemplating eternity. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The granite and marble grave markers are larger than any I have ever seen or heard of. Many are staggeringly huge.
Several feature columns flanking massive doorways that would accommodate a gaggle of giants.
Marble and live oak. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
One wonders whether these were intended as portals into the next life.
At any rate, they're out of this world.
Mr. Myers was wealthy or loved or both. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
I lay on my back at one point attempting to get a shot of an obelisk, but even from that uncomfortable angle the whole of it would not fit into my camera's viewer.
Clearly the sculptor -- or the family -- suffered from Washington Monument envy.
Back view of Morgan monument. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The Morgan monument stupefied me for at least fifteen minutes. The angel's stance, her attitude, her wings, her lifted hand, the plaintive sigh of leaves and moss ... divine.
Laura. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The family vaults with their ornate doors oxidized to rich verdigris are each more lovely than the last.
They'll stop you dead in your tracks.
A pity they lead nowhere. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Corinne Elliott Lawton's fabulous -- and famous -- contemplative figure sits as she has for a century and a half, the river flowing at her marble back, guarding the poignant epitaph allured to brighter worlds and led the way.
Amelia. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
I would venture to say that once upon a time, folks put a great deal of effort into outdoing one another when burying their dead at Bonaventure.
"What kind of ego?" Audrey exclaimed at the forty-foot obelisk.
Beautiful repose. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Fragmented syntax notwithstanding, I knew what she meant.
What kind indeed?
And what kind of devotion?
We will stand and guard tho' the angels sleep. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
The questions -- and their answers -- are borne tenderly aloft on hot whispering breezes at bonny, bony Bonaventure.
Reader Comments (19)
Wow! What a cemetery! Thanks for the tour of it through your camera. It's just beautiful!
These are ALL Incredible!! I'm really drawn to the cross with Laura on it....And Amelia...beautiful....they were obviously loved Very much...
I read the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil....Very good...
Thanks for the tour sweetheart!! Beautiful...
hughugs
Spectacular post! You captured it in a way I could not. You photographed the beauty, and the descriptions are magnificent! One day, I hope to be able to capture a cemetery like that. Even though I see the beauty, what comes out of my camera is information. You and your work is an inspiration!
@ Mari ... Thank you and you're welcome! I hoped you'd like it!
@ Donna ... I too loved the crosses with the single female name. How poignant and beautiful a tribute! I would not mind resting beneath something so feminine and romantic. I am so glad you stopped by to share Bonaventure with me!
@ Stephanie ... you have taken my breath away with your praise. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to photography ... I use a $115 Nikon Coolpix given to me by my children and I just aim and click till I'm out of memory. I took 400 pictures on Saturday ... my arm hurt the next day! To me the magic comes with artful cropping and then, in this case, with the effects of antiquing and edge-blurring. At any rate, one can hardly go wrong in a place as incredibly gorgeous as Bonaventure. I would love to go there someday with you! It would be fun. Thanks for stopping by to share the wealth!
I recently tweeted and stumbled upon your post. Really your post is very informative and I enjoyed your opinions. Do you use twitter or stumbleupon? So I can follow you there. I am hoping you post again soon.
Here you can pay attention to my site.
Thank you for coming
http://www.qualitymarkers.com/
I do believe that there is a reason for everything and I am so glad of it. For whatever reason u found my blog I am so glad u commented so I could reply and come find you. I LOVE your blog. And yes, I am a Taphophile as well, lol! I love walking and looking around all cemetaries and SO badly would love to visit this one. I have a good friend that lives in Georgia. I will have to get her to take me here. Your beautiful pictures does this cemetary justice. Thank you so much for sharing them :)
@ Grave Stones ... I do tweet as @JennyPennifer ... I will follow you ASAP! Thanks for stopping by.
@ Crystal ... I found your blog through Donna's and have thoroughly enjoyed them both! I really liked your latest post which is why I became a commenter rather than merely a lurker. I hope you get an opportunity to visit Bonaventure with your friend!
What fantastic pictures, you really are a good photographer. I have a really good camera, special lenses etc. but my pictures turn out like crap most of the time. I just don't have the "eye" that you do. Thanks so much for sharing.
Mrs Reiux is also a taphopile. Living only four hours from Savannah, myself, she waits in anticipation of a summer business trip to Savannah, We stay on Bay street on the company's dime and I work while she and the kids do their thing, visitng and revisting the cemetaries, and shops, and museums, etc. I like to find a talented street musician on River St and listen there after a nice meal at one of the oyster bars at the east end of River St.
I enjoyed the photos most certainly. :-)
I, too, have lived within three hours of Savannah for a long time. And I have visited that historic, amazingly-entertaining city exactly one time. [hides shame]
Great photos, Jenny. Taphophiles everywhere are no doubt proud of your work.
@ Debbie ... you are most welcome, and thanks for the compliment! I do believe I coax my camera to the limits of its capabilities. In my case, ignorance is bliss.
@ Reiuxcat ... wonderful! I have a hard time even thinking about Savannah in the summer ... the other day when we were there, I nearly expired from the heat and it was still May. When I go back it will be no sooner than November! We love to eat on River Street too ... I don't do oysters but I love the grouper fingers at One Eyed Lizzy's! Who knew grouper had such delish digits? LOLOL ... and a young busker entertained us with "Joy to the World" over and over, sawed out on his fiddle. Such fun.
@ Kev ... you must go to Savannah again! I'm glad you like my pics.
Those pictures really are exquisite. No picture of Gracie? She kind of touched my heart.
Oh, thank you for taking me along on your trip! I am one of those whatsits that love cemeteries too. the older the better. I love the statuary of the angels and contemplative women. Also, I think working on photos on the computer is an art form of its own. (Unfortunately our local cemetery is suffering from moanings and groanings of a far more base nature - unsavory women and their customers have found the cemetery to be handy - ugh).
@ Audrey ... ahhh, wee Gracie Watson. She touched me a bit too much. When I go back to Bonaventure I plan to take 30 photos of her alone ... and the graves surrounding hers. That corner of the cemetery seemed more sacred and sad than the rest. So someday soon I'll do a post on Gracie alone!
@ Tracie ... good heavens! What sacrilege! The police ought to stake out the place and make some arrests!
Thank you for wandering over and commenting on my blog! hahaha, I see that you have a Totus link on the sidebar. Ah, another enemy of big government and one with a sense of humor - hello, dear friend!
I saw this post and was spellbound. I love cemetaries too, and this post took me back to a time about 20 years ago when we went through the Bonaventure Cemetary, before the novel and movie (which I read and watched). And we saw the statue later made famous. Oh, the beauty of the gravesites is mesmerizing! Thank you so much for capturing it all with your camera. I don't have a single picture from that trip. That was back in the day when I didn't carry a camera (can you can imagine that now, LOL).
@ Donna ... I felt like I had found a dear friend when I landed on your blog. What excellent pictures ... and yes, I find it hard to believe that there was a time you didn't have a camera in your hand! I'm a late bloomer as well. Bonaventure was exquisite on so many levels and I can't wait to go back ... above ground, of course! LOL ... thanks so much for sharing it with me.
I went through a long period without a camera in my hand. Film was expensive enough with hubby taking pictures (ex professional now), so he was the designated "picture taker". We met because of photography, almost 30 years ago, because I took his photography class! hahaha!!! But everything changed when really good DSLR cameras became reasonably priced. Got a Nikon D70 about 4-5 years ago for myself. Upgraded to a D90 last year. And I jumped into Photoshop (first Elements and now CS4/CS5) in a BIG way. I can do post processing way better than hubby now! haha, don't tell him that! Shhhh! Might hurt his feelings.
Started my blog 2-1/2 years ago and my photography took off because of blogging! So that's my short story made a little long!
Glad to make your acquaintance and lucky that I came back here to see if you posted anything back to me!
These photos are exquisite! You have a real gift!
@ Donna ... I've never had an expensive camera although I've loved the two digitals I've owned and used almost to death. I now have my sights set on either an Olympus Pen or a Nikon D5000. My goal is to have it by Christmas ... better work hard and earn some money!
@ Josephine ... thank you! It was the subject that was exquisite; I just got lucky!